Search

Economists tend to favour price-based approaches, such as gasoline and carbon taxes, to address the negative impacts of car travel, while urban planners tend to emphasise land use planning such as compact development. In this paper, we argue that the two approaches are synergistic. We use precinct-level data from two California referenda to show that land use planning makes pricing more feasible: voters in dense, transit-oriented neighbourhoods are more willing to support a carbon price and increased gasoline taxes. Political ideology is a more important determinant of voting patterns, but in a closely divided election, land use patterns, public transportation, and other aspects of the built environment can determine the success of a referendum on driving taxes. Our results also imply that the voluminous research on land use and transportation underestimates the long-run impacts of compact development on driving, through ignoring the ways in which urban form shapes the politics of taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development counteracts climate change and strives for a good quality of life. It is a development based on economic, social and environmental goals which should be evaluated. Environmental taxes have to ensure enterprises' development follows sustainability principles. The basis of environmental taxes is a physical unit of harmful substance emissions with a proven negative impact on the environment. The article's main objective is to assess the impact of environmental taxes (Envtax) on the sustainable development of the transportation and storage enterprises (Susd) (NACE Rev. 2: H) from 2008 to 2018. We created integrated indicators of sustainable development and its components, single-equation and multi-equation models (the OLS estimation) and Model Autoregressive Moving Average with eXogenous (ARMAX) to verify the research hypothesis. The research results indicate that energy (Entax t), transport (Trtax) and pollution taxes (Poltax) from current and previous period significantly affect the development of transportation and storage enterprises within sustainability principles (economic: Ed, social: Sd, and environmental: Envd). There is a strong variation in the strength and direction of the impact of environmental taxes on the development of the transportation and storage enterprises following sustainability principles in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Slovenia from 2008 to 2018. The results indicate that taxes are not effectively used and that implementing reforms in the European Union in this area is the right direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiscal stress is a common condition in shrinking cities such as Detroit. Among the contributing factors, property tax delinquency is a significant consideration due to the unwillingness or inability to pay property taxes. The literature shows that improvement in the quality of public goods and services can increase tax compliance and strengthen the social contract between taxpayers and the local government. Nonetheless, this relationship is unclear in the context of low-income shrinking cities. This article estimates the effects of new publicly provided transportation infrastructure on property tax compliance in Detroit, Michigan. Specifically, we use the announcement of the Qline in Detroit. We compute the effects of the Qline announcement on tax delinquency behavior using a Spatial Difference-in-Difference approach. The results indicate that the announcement of the Qline had an economically and statistically significant impact on tax delinquency for properties within one mile of the nearest Qline station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between environmental taxes and income distribution has become an important topic of discussion in recent years. These discussions began in the 1990s, with a series of tax reforms in many countries both to reduce environmental pollution and to increase employment. With these tax reforms, the tax burden on labor and capital has been shifted onto products that cause environmental pollution. This radical changes in the tax system of countries has led to an increase in the price of many products. It is fairly hard to say that all segments of society are equally affected by the increase in prices. In this context, the aim of the article is to empirically determine effects on the income distribution of energy, transportation and other environmental taxes applied in 25 OECD member countries and give suggestions for reducing the negative effects of these taxes. In this study, the long-term effects of energy, transportation and other environmental taxes on income distribution were examined by panel data method between 2000 and 2015. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that while energy and other environmental taxes distort income distribution, transportation taxes improved the distribution of income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with pressure from the public, governments, and environmental agencies, it is becoming essential for manufacturing firms to identify and implement sustainable operations aiming at reducing the negative social and environmental impacts while enhancing the firm's public image and increasing its economic performance. This paper investigates a production model that incorporates the quality of different types of components/raw material parts used in the production process along with their transportation emissions tax. It is assumed that the various types of components contain both perfect and imperfect quality items. The percentage of perfect quality components of a particular type is a random variable having a known probability distribution. Based on results regarding the probability distribution and the expected value of the minimum of a set of random variables, a mathematical model is developed and the total production/inventory cost is obtained. A closed form formula approximating the optimal solution is derived in terms of the expected value of the minimum of a set of random variables related to the percentages of perfect quality components. The case in which the percentages of perfect quality components are uniformly distributed is investigated and a numerical example is given to illustrate this case. The accuracy of the approximated solution is assessed via a simulation algorithm that can also be used to approximate the optimal lot size in the case when the percentages of perfect quality components are not all uniformly distributed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What's a fair way to pay for urban transportation? Local option sales taxes (LOSTs) for transportation are an increasingly common mechanism for locally financing transportation in the context of declining federal and state funding. LOSTs are typically regressive, raising equity concerns. But their fairness also depends on who benefits from them, based on which projects are funded, where projects are located, and when investments occur. We examine how perceptions of these four dimensions of equity (income, geographic, temporal, and modal) are represented and debated in the ballot arguments for 38 LOST elections in California. We find that measure supporters use subtle language to imply that proposed expenditure plans achieve equity on all dimensions, promising "something for everyone." Measure opponents, by contrast, typically attack specific perceived inequities in proposed expenditure plans. We find that tradeoffs among types of equity debated in ballot arguments frame winners and losers across multiple equity dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the issue of taxes and charges in road freight transport in the Slovak Republic and the selected European countries. The aim is to compare and evaluate the position of the Slovak carriers towards foreign ones when doing business in the common European market. The selected kinds of taxes and charges (or costs items) relate to different production factors of road transport undertakings (vehicles, drivers, road infrastructure). Also, the legislation on taxes and charges differs among individual countries and differences can be observed in the principles of taxation. The objective isto make a comprehensive objectified comparison when taking into account several selected taxes, charges and costs in road transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper sets in context some of the more recent work that has been conducted on public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the provision and operation of infrastructure. PPPs essentially involve a government or its agent signing an agreement with a private company or consortium to supply it with services with the private sector actor involved in major elements of designing, building, temporarily ‘owning’, and running the physical assets; basically they are long-term development and service contracts between government and a private partner. The paper outlines the development of economic thinking regarding the rationale behind PPPs, the extent to which unbundling is optimal and the forms that it may take, the nature of the contracts that are enacted and their renegotiation, the awarding of contracts, and matters of possible corruption. By way of focus, it also provides some indication of what empirical studies in the transportation have thrown up regarding the outcomes of PPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental taxation is different from many other forms of taxation as it is not only used to raise revenue but it is also able to marginally influence behaviour to protect and enhance the environment. It provides valuable market led mechanisms to help limit greenhouse gas emissions, encourage sustainable behaviour and improve environmental performance to address climate change. The Post Paris (COP21) agreement provides a framework for global actions to address climate change and this sets the context for the discussion of environmental taxation. Environmental taxes have enormous potential to change carbon usage. In 2012, the Coalition Government (2010-2015) opined that the definition of an environmental tax includes three principles, namely that the tax is explicitly linked to the government's environmental objectives, that the primary objective of the tax is to encourage environmentally positive behaviour, and that the tax is structured in relation to environmental objectives, particularly the more polluting the behaviour the greater tax levied.¹ The current Government has adopted and applied this definition. By way of contrast, the definitions of environmental taxation favoured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), respectively, give a wider remit for environmental taxation and policy making and include, for instance, various transport taxes which, as will be seen, do not fall within the Government's definition of an environmental tax. The Climate Change Levy, which is the focus of this article, was introduced as one of a series of new environmental taxes on business energy use in 2001. It is charged on electricity, gas liquefied petroleum gas and solid fuels used by business. Generally, environmental taxes are intended to increase investments in renewable technologies while reducing carbon emissions, but they are vulnerable to political influence and policy changes. Thus, the rationale for environmental or 'Green' taxes has shifted perceptibly to raising revenue rather than enabling government to meet its obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008. Environmental taxes are also susceptible to oil prices and fluctuations in the global economy. The North Sea oil and gas industry is going through a difficult period of retrenchment. A recent independent report has suggested that the industry has two years to adjust to changing economic circumstances.² Inevitably, this will impact on the tax revenues raised from this sector. In an ideal world, environmental taxes should be easy to avoid through a change in behaviour and, consequently, hard to evade. Environmental taxes provide important means to achieve policy objectives, but their full potential requires public support and, especially, engagement by the business community. The future of environmental taxes may depend on the success of 'green' investment. There is a case for introducing a single climate tax on business. Undoubtedly, environmental taxes deserve greater attention in the economic toolbox to meet climate change commitments. The UK faces some difficult policy decisions under the Climate Change Act 2008 to meet the 2030 energy and climate change package targets.³ Currently, the UK receives 7.5% of tax revenue from environmental taxes.4 To date, environmental taxation has had mixed outcomes in the UK, though few doubt its potential to define the future of carbon based energy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examine the enterprise income tax (EIT) imposed by the new regulation on nonresident enterprises as well as its practical implications and the current condition of the Chinese maritime industry. It mentions that the Chinese tax regime for international transportation business and EIT is permissible under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It also propose amendments and the recommend proactive measures that shipowners to take.

Local governments throughout the world are facing fiscal constraints. At the same time, they face strong opposition to tax increases from their residents, who demand an increasingly higher quality of public infrastructure and services. The situation is further exacerbated in rapidly urbanizing developing countries that need to provide urban infrastructure at a fast pace. Such a situation has led many countries to actively seek new sources of local non-tax-based revenue such as the sale of development rights. This paper analyzes the sale of development rights to fund Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Rajkot, India; highlights the key success factors; suggests reforms that would increase the tools' effectiveness; and identifies the lessons learned from Rajkot's experience. Specific lessons include the following: the sale of development rights must be calibrated to the existing or planned capacity of infrastructure and services; the majority of revenues from such a sale are likely to accrue after the infrastructure project has been developed, while funds are needed beforehand to develop the project, therefore, this revenue-expenditure mismatch needs to be addressed; and the development rights' sale price must be indexed to inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuel taxes, assessed on a per-gallon basis nationally, have been the major source of transportation funding for the past century. Despite increasing travel demand, aging infrastructure, and soaring construction, operation, and maintenance costs, federal tax rates have remained unchanged since 1993. This article assesses the financial impacts of the current per-gallon taxing regime and a variety of travel demand management strategies, utilizing mileage-based user fees (MBUFs) for the state of Florida. The results indicate that combining MBUFs with congestion pricing (CPMBUFs) can be a viable pricing and demand management strategy for enhancing Florida's transportation funding. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper first briefly reviews the extent to which profit maximising transport firms with identical cost functions and producing identical transport services pass-on output taxes to transport users under perfect competition, under different forms of imperfect competition and when they act as monopolists. Then the analysis is extended to derive the pass-on rates and activity reductions caused by an output tax when firms care both about profit and consumer surplus, produce symmetrically differentiated services and compete simultaneously in quantities and fare and when they collude. The pass-on rates and activity reductions are highest under collusion and lowest under Cournot competition when they produce complementary services. When they produce substitute services, the result is ambiguous and the competitive situation that yields highest pass-on depends on the firms’ objective functions and how fiercely they compete. Two important counterintuitive results are that the more intensely the firms compete and the more weight they put on consumer surplus, the higher the pass-on rates are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Public opposition is a major barrier to implementation of transport taxes. [•] We test a model of public support across three transport taxes. [•] The three taxes are fuel taxes, road pricing and parking fees. [•] The model performs well in explaining support across the taxes. [•] Perceived effectiveness, regressiveness and self-interest are important predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Various methods of restricting automobile traffic, by price (tolls) or by quantity (odd/even license plates or limited days of traffic), are tested in a survey (N ∼400) about attitudes toward traffic restrictions in Lyon, France. Ordered probit models with random-effects panel allow us to estimate the survey respondents’ perceptions of these methods, as well as the roles of individual socio-demographic characteristics in the formation of these perceptions. Both the restriction of automobile traffic and its regulation by congestion (waiting in line) are widely considered unjust by the respondents, regardless of whether they work and whether they are drivers or non-drivers. Their attitudes towards tolls justified by the pollution caused by automobile traffic are less negative. As regards compensation, in addition to emergency vehicles and those that transport people with limited mobility, respondents believe car-pooling ought to benefit of a toll exemption. The support for a reduced rate for low-income users shows a concern for justice to which it will be necessary to respond. The respondents’ socio-professional status, level of education, car use or non-use, and residence inside or outside of the toll zone clearly play a role in their perceptions of these methods of regulation and compensation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

By the 1920s the Netherlands was a 'cycling nation', courtesy of an extensive network of bicycle paths throughout the country, a politically influential cyclists' organisation, and a bicycle tax, which meant that cyclists were formally provided for. German cyclists' organisations never achieved the political influence of their Dutch counterpart. In the Weimar Republic the National Socialist regime produced geographically uneven traffic regulations, and promoted motorised traffic that also entailed the separation of different flows of traffic. The construction of cycling paths increased significantly but the German network remained scantily developed in the late 1930s in comparison to its Dutch counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the problems of Russian gas supplies to Europe got quite serious as the events of January 2009 have shown. From an economic point of view, the sources of these problems are the monopoly of Ukraine as a transit country, on one hand, and Russian monopoly on supplies of gas to Ukraine, on the other. The paper analyses different schemes of supplying Russian gas to Europe and Ukraine. It is shown that under existing agreements on supplies of Russian gas to Europe, Ukraine does not take proper advantage of its position as a monopoly transit country. On its part, Russia could benefit by setting the price of gas supplied to Ukraine as a function of transit tariff set by Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In Europe, the preferential tax treatment of company cars implies that many employees receive a company car as part of their compensation package. In this paper, we consider a model in which wages and the decision whether or not to provide a company car are the result of direct negotiation between employer and employee. Using this framework, we theoretically and numerically study first- and second-best optimal tax policies on labour and transport markets, focusing on the role of the tax treatment of company cars. We obtain the following results. First, higher labour taxes and a more favourable tax treatment of company cars raise the fraction employees that receives a company car; congestion and congestion tolls reduce it. Second, in countries that provide large implicit subsidies to company cars, eliminating the preferential tax treatment of company cars may be an imperfect but quite effective substitute for currently unavailable congestion tolls. The numerical illustration, calibrated using Belgian data, suggests that it yields about half the welfare gain attainable through optimal congestion taxes. Third, the favourable tax treatment of company cars justifies large public transport subsidies; the numerical results are consistent with zero public transport fares. Finally, we find that earlier models that ignored the preferential tax treatment of company cars may have substantially underestimated optimal congestion tolls in Europe. The numerical illustration suggests that about one third of the optimal congestion toll we obtain can be attributed to the current tax treatment of company cars. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Charging highway users per mile has been proposed as a replacement for the US motor fuel tax. A miles traveled user fee, however, does not encourage energy efficiency in vehicle design, purchase and operation, as would a user fee levied on all forms of commercial energy used for transportation and indexed to the average efficiency of vehicles on the road. An indexed roadway user toll on energy would induce two to four times as much reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum use as a pure mileage fee. However, it is not a substitute for pricing greenhouse gas emissions and would make only a small but useful contribution to reducing petroleum dependence. An indexed energy user fee cannot adequately address the problems of traffic congestion and heavy vehicle cost responsibility but it could be a component of a system of financing surface transportation that would eventually also include time and place specific monitoring of miles traveled for congestion pricing, externality charges and heavy vehicle user fees. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to study optimal congestion taxes in a time-allocation framework. This makes it possible to distinguish taxes on inputs in the production of car trips and taxes on transport as an activity. Moreover, the model allows us to consider the implications of treating transport as a demand, derived from other activities. We extend several well known tax rules from the public finance literature and carefully interpret the implications for the optimal tax treatment of passenger transport services. The main findings of the paper are the following. First, if governments are limited to taxing market inputs into transport trip production, the time-allocation framework: (i) provides an argument for taxing congestion below marginal external cost, (ii) implies a favourable tax treatment for time-saving devices such as GPS, and (iii) provides a previously unnoticed argument for public transport subsidies. Second, if the government has access to perfect road pricing that directly taxes transport as an activity, all previous results disappear. Third, in the absence of perfect road pricing, the activity-specific congestion attracted by employment centres, by shopping centres or by large sports and cultural events should be corrected via higher taxes on market inputs in these activities (e.g., entry tickets, parking fees, etc.). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the use of market-based emission regulation instruments to address the carbon dioxide emissions of transportation. Simulations with a static multi-region computable general equilibrium model show that including transportation into the European emission trading system is superior to a closed emission trading system for transportation or a tax-based approach. Furthermore, we show that exempting transportation from emission regulation is the most favorable approach in terms of welfare. This counterintuitive result is due to a large tax-interaction effect caused by high pre-existing fuel taxes in the transport sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a survey testing whether California residents would support the concept of “green” transportation taxes and fees. Green taxes and fees would be set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. The results show that the concept of green transportation taxes and fees strongly appeals to Californians. The survey data were also analyzed to identify if sub-groups within the state were particularly likely to support or oppose green transportation taxes and fees. Support for the green taxes and fees held at 50% or higher across most population sub-groups. Bivariate analysis showed that demographic factors were generally poor predictors of support, but that some attitudinal and knowledge variables did correlate with increased support for the green taxes and fees. Multivariate analysis confirmed that pro-environment and pro-government attitudes are significant and strong predictors of support for increasing transportation revenues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an innovative approach to transportation programming in which optimization is a catalyst for public participation. Public participation is central to the paradigm shift that has occurred in transportation planning toward “communicative” methods. A case study is presented in which 133 public participants deliberated over a programming decision involving a local transportation tax. The paper explains how the problem was formulated for deliberation and describes the participatory benefits of providing an optimization tool. Participant feedback suggests the tool helped motivate, structure, and inform the deliberation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Transportation, energy and environmental tax reforms represent an ongoing debate in contemporary policy. The main aim of this paper is to shed some light on this debate using micro-simulation tools to analyse consumer response and welfare effects of environmental policy consisting of an increment of the indirect taxes on fuels to finance the elimination of VAT on the public means of transport. In order to do so, we first estimate an Almost Ideal Demand System for 16 different groups of goods in the Spanish economy, for the purpose of evaluating expenditure and price elasticities. Using this information, we then micro-simulate the abolition of VAT on public transport services and a simultaneous increment on fuel taxes, so that total revenue remains unchanged. The welfare effects of this revenue-neutral tax reform are evaluated. The aim of this simulation is to define a public policy that increases public transportation availability and use in order to bring about decreases in pollution and congestion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on the study concerning the financing of transport infrastructure in the French monarchy during the eighteenth century. It states that the financing issue includes a deep quandary, wherein all the people need to pay the income tax, even those who do not necessarily use the roads. It notes that the eighteenth century is described with such progressive change that sweeps away the existing feudalism vestiges and with the emersion of a capitalist financing system that gave rise to the development and improvement of infrastructures. It cites that the toll reform led by the monarchy during the eighteenth century was established because of the alterations caused by the French revolution in 1790.

This paper analyzes the opening of a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) ramp meter bypass to trucks that pay a toll. Trucks are similar to HO Vs as both have higher values of time than single-occupant cars. Thus a time saving for these vehicles benefits the transportation system. Using queuing analysis, tolls maximizing user benefit, toll authority profit, and system benefit were estimated. It is found that to maximize system welfare, trucks should be allowed free use of the bypass, but that raises some equity and operational issues. However, a toll that allows trucks to use the bypass improves the welfare over prohibiting them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All states rely on gasoline taxes as one source of funds for road improvement and maintenance. Historically, gasoline usage has been roughly proportional to road usage for most light vehicles, so the gas tax could be viewed as a user charge. Increasing fuel efficiency and alternative fuel vehicles reduce both the equity of the revenue source and its growth over time. At the same time, improved technology has made more direct pricing of road usage more feasible. This paper reports on the economic issues that arise in moving toward the more extensive use of road pricing as a substitute for fuel taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 20th Century the United States built a partnership for financing surface transportation infrastructure that included local, state, and federal expenditures, and relied heavily on user charges to cover the costs of these investments. This paper examines recent changes in the nature of this partnership that are significant, but rarely noted. Policymakers are devolving fiscal responsibility from federal and state to local governments, by increasingly authorizing the use of local option transportation taxes. This trend substitutes general taxes for user fees and charges, and shifts decisions about major transportation projects into the electoral and legislative arena. These changes have significant implications for our understanding of the future of metropolitan transportation planning, and the ways in which we seek to reconcile transportation investments with other public policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Winter 1996 issue of Transportation Quarterly, Beilock et al. presented evidence of significant premiums in freight rates associated with crossing borders in Central and Eastern Europe. Some premiums were also seen with respect to transiting distance, particularly in the former Soviet Union. This article examines the results of a follow-up study which shows that international motor carriers find conditions in the Balkans markedly inferior to those in Western Europe with respect to the appropriateness and enforcement of laws and taxes, corruption, crime, border-crossing procedures, and infrastructure. Evidence is also presented of extended delays at four border crossings, despite light to moderate traffic volumes. The degrees and patterns of these delays suggest problems related to processing procedures and personnel deficiencies, including negligence, rather than inadequacies in the infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the constitutionality of congestion pricing in controlling air pollution and roadway congestion in urban environments. The author argues that programs that assess fees on drivers for using urban roadways may not be effective in reducing either air pollution or congestion and may be unconstitutional. Topics include a taxation scheme in New York City, several court cases regarding taxation and pricing schemes, and disproportionate economic burdens of congestion pricing.

The article focuses on the constitutionality of congestion pricing, which is the taxation of motorists in certain urban areas to reduce congestion and air pollution. Topics include why the tax would disproportionately impact commuters, the concept of unequal burden, and transportation taxation. Information is provided on state barriers against interstate trade.

The author discusses the advocacy of librarians in developing relationships with legislators. She agrees that legislators should be informed about library issues to gain their support for projects such as signing the American Library Association (ALA) Declaration for the Right to Libraries. Also discussed are issues discussed during the annual Library Legislative Day including the transportation and gas tax issues and the State Supreme Court order regarding public education.